A Childhood Fairytale: Haunted House
by Atreyl
Summary: At thirteen, Mello gets the brilliant idea of visiting a haunted house, but things do not end as expected.


**A Childhood Fairytale: Haunted House**

**(Matt and Mello are both 13; set when they're still at Whammy's)  
**

"Are you sure this is it?" Matt asked uncertainly. He fidgeted with the sleeve of his striped shirt.

"Of course," Mello said, smiling widely at the house in front of the duo.

It was your ideal haunted house. The paint was peeling off the exterior, revealing the decaying wood. Dead leaves cluttered the front yard, as well as that dead tree that had fallen through a window. It's not like all the other windows are in good condition. Most were broken or gray with dust. The front porch was littered with empty beer bottles, with a rocking chair that had a mouse on it. It squeaked, seeing the two boys, and ran away.

"Do we have to go in?" Matt asked. His fingers twitched, longing to be mashing buttons on his DS. But, no. Mello had made him leave that back at their room.

"Well, yeah," said blond told him, making his way to the porch. "Then we would have done this for nothing."

"I know, I know, we had to go through a whole load of crap when we snuck out."

"It's 'sneaked'. 'Snuck' is not a word."

"Sneaked. Whatever."

"We're wasting time," Mello said impatiently. "Let's go." He motioned for Matt to follow. Tentative, Matt followed him.

The floorboards creaked underneath their shoes and sounded like they were going to break any minute. Mello ignored this and walked right up to the door, putting a hand on the doorknob. He flashed a devious smile at his best friend before turning it.

Surprisingly, the doorknob came off in his hands. Mello frowned down at it.

"Mel, hurry up! It's freaking cold out here," Matt whispered, rubbing his arms up and down.

"Serves you right for wearing that sleeveless hoodie," Mello whispered back. He tossed the doorknob off somewhere and rested a hand against the brown wood that was the door. He pushed. To his satisfaction, the door groaned and swung in. Moonlight streamed into the dark interior, but not enough. Neither boy could make out any other type of furniture except the back of a ratty couch.

"Wonder who lived here," Matt muttered. Mello's skin prickled when he felt the redhead's breath against his neck. The blond took a step forward, the floorboards once again creaking.

"I'd hate to be the person who does," Mello replied. "I wouldn't be able to stand living in such a dump."

Matt nodded. "At least this is in the middle of nowhere, you know? No annoying girl scouts coming to knock at your door."

"When I grow up, I'm gonna get a real nice place," Mello said as he went further in. "I'm gonna have a big, big bedroom and a gigantic window."

"Can I live with you?" Matt asked wistfully, taking out his flashlight. He flicked it on, and light filled the room.

_Slam!_

"Ah!" Matt screamed, grabbing wildly onto the nearest thing, which happened to be Mello's waist.

Mello let out an involuntary groan, hand gripping a chair for balance. Nothing happened for a few seconds, until Matt decided to whisper, "I think the wind slammed it shut."

"You sure there's no creepy pedophile who stalks haunted houses for kids?" Mello said back hoarsely. The situation he and Matt were in was...compromising. It gave him the shudders, both pleasant and unpleasant. He rather liked the closeness of his and the redhead's body, and at the same time ashamed he was having these thoughts. Matt didn't like him that away. So he should stop fantasizing about his best friend. Okay. Solution formed.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Matt was still holding onto his waist, though. _Wow, me and Mello sure are close,_ the gamer thought. He grinned cheekily upon realizing that fact, and out of the state of happiness he was in, one of his arms went limp and slid down lower than intended.

Blushing a furious red, Mello slinked away from Matt's hold. He thanked the darkness for concealing his blush.

"M-Mello?" Matt shone the flashlight on his friend, who was resembling a deer caught in headlights. "S-sorry about t-that, my hand, i-it slipped," he said, stumbling across his words.

Mello nodded mutely, composing himself. "Right."

The other boy silently mourned. Mello didn't sound like he was convinced. "Let's keep going. Where's this mirror you're talking about?" He waved the flashlight around slowly.

"Supposedly in the powder room."

"...Isn't that a woman's bathroom."

"No, Matt, it's a bathroom for guests."

"Right, right." Matt let Mello take the flashlight and lead the way.

When they finally found the 'bathroom for guests,' Matt was sure he had shuddered more times than he ever had in his whole life. He'd seen...unique things. For example, he had nearly grabbed Mello's waist again when he saw that shrunken head sitting atop a bookcase. There was also that disturbing painting of a pale girl in a white dress, with long, wiry hair. She'd had no eyes; they had been empty sockets.

And Matt shuddered once again.

"You okay?" Mello said, taking the redhead out of his reverie. Mello was halfway inside the powder room already and he'd looked back to see his best friend pausing. Surely he wasn't scared, right?

"Fine," Matt said, putting on a brave smile. He followed Mello into the powder room, noticing first the medium-sized mirror that took up nearly half of one wall.

Mello was beaming. "They say it's been in perfect shape for 100 years," he said softly, trailing a hand across the glass. "No cracks, no chipped ends..."

Matt didn't really see what was so special about it. "I wonder what would happen if I 'accidentally' slammed the flashlight on it." He grinned at his reflection.

"Matt!" Mello hissed. "We'd be cursed!"

Matt snickered. "You don't believe in that shit, right, Mels?"

Mello frowned at the nickname but dismissed it. "Maybe I do. It's best to be careful, anyway, and not take any chances."

Matt whistled. "Mello's being rational for once, wow."

Mello whirled to call him not-very-nice names, but froze when there was a loud thud. Then the sound of something scraping against the floor, like it was being dragged.

Both boys screamed at the same time, bolting out of the small room, making a run for the door. Matt, after tripped on various _things _he did not even want to know about, reached the front entrance first and yanked on the doorknob. Thankfully, the knob didn't come away and the door swung open.

"Come on!" Matt pulled on Mello's hand, and for the first time in years, he was running.

They stumbled through a brief stretch of trees before catching sight of Whammy's House. The orphanage never looked so inviting.

Matt and Mello found the window they'd stole to earlier and scrambled in. Once they were safe in the confines of their room, Mello dove for their shared bed, drowning himself in covers. Matt slammed the window shut, emitting a loud bang, and hopped in bed along with Mello.

Whimpering, the two boys trembled in each other's arms(for _comfort. _Not because they enjoyed it, or that they've been waiting a long time to do it...)

Their door was slammed open and Mello screamed again.

"Boys!" Roger's voice only. "What on earth is happening?!" He glared at the duo.

"Mello was tickling me," Matt said immediately.

"And I kicked him into that window," Mello said smoothly, pointing to said window.

"Then I tackled him on the bed and tried to punch him," Matt finished their little lie.

Roger glared daggers. "Well, keep it down. AND GO TO SLEEP." He slammed their door shut again, making the walls rattle.

Matt deflated against a mound of pillows. "Oh, my god," he breathed.

Mello splayed out next to him. "Yeah, I know."

"We are _never _doing that again."

And for once in his life, Mello agreed to something without objection.


End file.
